Jan Huygen van Linschoten ( 1563 - 1611)

Dutch merchant, navigator, and writer whose works were instrumental in breaking the Portuguese monopoly on the sea routes to Asia.

Born in Haarlem in 1563, he travelled to Spain in his youth and entered the service of the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa, Dom Vicente da Fonseca, in 1583. During his six years in India, he meticulously gathered information on the navigation routes, trade, and geography of the East Indies—knowledge that was closely guarded by the Portuguese Crown.

Upon returning to the Netherlands in 1592, Linschoten settled in Enkhuizen, where he began to compile his notes for the publication of, Itinerario, ofte Schipvaert naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien. The work was richly illustrated with maps and coastal profiles engraved by Arnold Floris van Langren and Cornelis Claesz, and drew upon both Portuguese manuscript sources and Linschoten’s own observations. This book contained maps, information on monsoon patterns, and crucial data on routes, such as the Sunda Strait passage, that the Portuguese had kept secret. The publication enabled the Dutch and English to challenge Portuguese dominance, paving the way for the formation of the Dutch East India Company and ending Portugal’s monopoly on Asian trade

Linschoten later participated in Arctic exploration, joining Willem Barentsz’s second voyage to find the Northeast Passage (1594–95). His account of these expeditions, Voyagie, ofte Schipvaert van Jan Huygen van Linschoten naer de Noort (1601), added to his reputation as one of the foremost travel writers of the Dutch Golden Age.

He died in Enkhuizen in 1611. Linschoten’s Itinerario remains one of the most significant sources for the early modern European understanding of Asia, geography, and global commerce, marking a pivotal moment in the history of navigation and colonial expansion.